Tuesday, March 25, 2014

We’ve all heard the story of the selfless, peripatetic,
country doctor trudging through the chilly night to tend to one of his patients
in need. Well, during a now bygone era, there were also many urban doctors who
were equally dedicatedto their profession
who put their patients and Hippocratic oath before
all monetary emoluments.

One such doctor was Dr. Herbert E. Poch, a local legend, who
passed last week at the age of 86. Dr. Poch was a caring, loving,pediatrician. He was also a great teacher of
young parents of which I was one when I made his acquaintance shortly
afterthe birth of our first child. He
came highly recommended from everyone we asked. And my wife andI will forever be in his debt.

When my oldest
daughter collapsed into a seizure one early spring morning, we panicked. I
grabbed thefive-year-old, strapped her into her car seat and rushed herto the emergency room at our local hospital.

My anxiety level continued to spike upon my arrival. The
emergency room doctors were unknown to me. And facing a serious situation of
which I knew nothing, I began raising my voice for assistance. After a seemingly
inordinate amount of timehad passed, they
took my daughter into an examining room and suggested a spinal tap. At that
point I really knew it was serious. As I paced the waiting room with my wife
who met me there, both of us had no idea of the extent of the danger. As we
stared at the door waiting for someone to come out andtell us what was going on, we both were
imagining worst case scenarios. Until the door opened and out came Dr. Poch. No
one had summoned him. He was just making his normal rounds when he heard about
the little girl who was brought in by a frantic father. The girl just happened
to be his patient.

He was wearing a surgical gown and had been present for the
procedure. The first thing out of his mouth, “she’s out of danger; she’s going
to be alright.” A quarter century has gone by but I still vividly remember his
reassuring image. And indeed, everything was alright – thanks to him.

We were sad when he retired. No other pediatrician could
follow that act. But he went on to do so much more after he retired from
practice. He began teaching full-time, disseminating his wisdom to post-graduate
medical residents. He remained active in charitable work, being honored with
several awards. He was even honoredwith
a proclamation on the floor of the U.S. Congress for his extraordinary service
to children and his community.

Every once in a while you meet a real life saint. Dr. Poch
was such a man. Early mornings on my way to work, passing his office, I’d see
him enjoying a walk with his dog. Such a soothing sight. After his walk, he would
sit at his desk for an hour or so to field questions over the phonefrom parents, dispensingadvice and setting worried minds at ease. If
I hadn’t known him in the flesh, Norman Rockwell would surely have created him.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Phil Jackson was recently hired by the New York Knicks to
head up a floundering franchise which last won a championship in 1973. Everyone
has trumpeted his arrival as some cataclysmic event -- indeed there were standing ovations at the Garden when he was
first introduced as the new president of the Knicks. I don’t think the desired
results -- another championship --will be
attained in the new Jacksonian era despite blanket approval for the hire.

Unless I’m missing something this guy looks way too laid
back to navigate the alleyways of
Manhattan. He’d be much more comfortable in sandals and cutoffs in Santa Monica
or Venice Beach.

Yeah, he’s been part of 11 championships. And yes he did
play for theKnicks under Red Holzmanhis esteemed mentor. And has dealt with
mercurial characters: Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Shaq and Dennis Rodman. And
he has produced results, monumental results. But that was as a coach, not an
executive who will have to make personneland financial decisions. Of course, he and GM Steve Mills will be able
to hire other executives to handle themundane chores of running a franchise. While he pockets a cool $12 plus million a year.

To Phil Jackson, this is a win-win. He gets the money, snubs
his nose at the Lakers for passing him over for a similar role, most notably by
the brother of his fiancée, Jeanie Buss. (By the way how long has she been his fiancée,
anyway?)

This whole affair looks like one big ego stroking for a guy
who hasn’t been in the spotlight for a while but loves it. And going against
the grain here, I don’t see any championships down the road in the term of Jackson’s
contract. The Knicks were much better off with Donnie Walsh running the
franchise. He was astute enough to know that trading for Carmelo Anthony was a
stupid move, when he could have been gotten him as a free agent in the off
season without sacrificing young talent. But Knicks’ owner James Dolan insisted
on getting Carmelo which hastened the departure of Walsh, whose Pacers, by the
way, are vying for a championship THIS year. And to his credit Walsh had the
sense to know that Anthonyis toxic to a
championship team.

Can Carmelo sacrifice his game for the good of a team
concept? The Knicks are not missing role players they’re missing
weight-supporting columns. Players like those don’t like prima donnas who think
the game revolves around them. Who, as soon as they get their hands on the ball
crossing half court monopolize it. How many last second shots has Carmelo
missed this season with the game on the line? When the chips are down in the
fourth quarter, great players find a way to win.

Well here’s hoping good luck to the long suffering Knick
fans. Hope it works out but I doubt it will.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Guess we need a re-re-set button now that apparently our
president has exhausted all his promised flexibility with his good friend
Vladimir Putin. From the very beginning this administration had all the
trappings of the high school kids who take over the city council for a day and
go through the motions of running the town until the grown upsre-assume their rightful places.
Unfortunately there aren’t any grown-upsin the Obama administration who can step in and make things right.

Indeed they’ve been taken to school by Vlad and his merry
regime. In the 2012 presidential debates President Obama ridiculed Mr.
Romney for pointing out the grave dangers Russia and her expansionist oligarchs
posed in the world. He was oblivious to Romney's superior insight and said the former Massachusetts governor was locked in a 1980’s time warp. The
president’s naivetéknows no bounds.

Obviously the administration wasn't prepared for the conflagration going
on in the Ukraine. Just as they never seemed to be prepared for any unforeseen situation.
They give new meaning to “ad hoc.” The administration’s cigar store Indian,
dressed up as secretary of state seems equally ineptwhen he invokes phrases that the Russians are
using anachronistic methods in the 21st century. Doesn’t seem to
bother the Russians. They have long coveted a warm weather port and now are on the
verge of getting one in the Crimea and the Russian-speaking population there is
siding with the aggressors.

The Oblivicrats: Reid, Pelosi, Wasserman Schulz will
continue to see wisdom when the majority of Americans see ineptitude. Even many
media outlets are distancing themselves from the presidentbecause there’s still too much time left in
his term and there is nothing positive in sight: the continued displeasure with
Obamacare, the lethargic economy;high
unemployment, gas and food prices; no immigration reform. Indeed the
administration seems more concerned about the sovereignty of the Ukraine
than ours.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed as we eliminate one day at a
time when the mid-term elections arrive next November and hope we can re-set
our own course.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

“I’m very, very happy justice was served,” so said a jubilant
Kerry Kennedy after a six-member jury handed down a not guilty verdict in her driving
under the influence court case. Not much of a shocker. We have been conditioned
to think there is no Kennedy on planet earth who can ever be held
responsible for their own behavior. There seems to be extenuating circumstances
that lurk everywhere like amateurish detectives when the Kennedy clan is
involved.

A couple of years ago her brother was acquitted for an
altercation with two nurses because they would not let him take his newborn son
out of the hospitalfor some fresh air.
Her cousin William Smith was cleared of rape charges in 1992; her cousin Michael
Skakel is awaiting a new trial for his conviction in the murder of Martha
Moxley; her Uncle Ted had a little accident in Chappaquiddickin 1969. In 2006, her cousin
Patrick, a Rhode Island congressman at the time was also found dazed and
confused, though no charges were brought, when his car was involved in an
accident at 2:45 A.M. in the Capitol. Again, like Kerry, a medical mix-up was
the cause. You would thinkeducationsat prestigious
universitieswould enable them to
discernthe differences between pill bottles
and pills since pill popping seems to have replaced touch football as a Kennedy
familysport.

No one will believe Kerry was targeted because of her family name, as her attorneyclaimed after the acquittal.If she was just an average single mom would she have been able to summon
expert testimony to support her claim from a pharmacologist who had worked on
the clinical trials for Ambien one of the drugs allegedly taken in error. Would your average
single mom engage the services of a top tier attorney. Would the average single
mom have access to a propaganda machine extolling her virtuesas a globe-trotting activist superwoman?

To say she was targeted because of who she is, is absurd.
The next time we heara similar case of
a person slumped over the steering wheel of a car asleep after careening another
vehicle, and leaving the scene, do you believethe Kennedy defensewill stand up
in that case?